a. Field of Invention
The invention relates to utility, storage and/or transport carts and, more particularly, to a specially-adapted utility cart for storage and/or transport of items such as voting machines and equipment in a more convenient and safe manner.
b. Background of the Invention
There are a myriad of existing storage and transport carts currently in use for a wide variety of different applications. Some of these carts are adapted for carrying sensitive electronic equipment, and others carry large and/or heavy items. Utility carts for voting machines must combine both sets of attributes inasmuch as voting machines are valuable electronic devices and are extremely heavy. Thus, a very robust utility cart is required to carry such devices.
There are a number of different types of balloting terminals that are used in either paper-based or electronic voting systems across the United States. In a paper-based voting system, moreover, balloting terminals typically include both a ballot tabulation unit either permanently or temporarily secured to one or more ballot boxes. The ballot box and/or the ballot tabulation unit/ballot box combination may be expandable or collapsible and may come with additional accessories or features that alter its size and/or weight, such as batteries, locking mechanisms, varying types of privacy screens, tables, and specialty equipment to assist disabled persons in using the balloting terminal. As an example of one type of voting machine, Castro & Harris manufactures the ES&S Model M100 Ballot Counter, a high-speed central paper ballot counter which, when combined with a ballot box, is approximately the size of a large computer server (approximately 2.5′×2′×4.5′) and weighs approximately 20 lbs. By contrast, electronic balloting systems such as the AccuVote®-TSX distributed by Premier Election Solutions™ is roughly 1′×2′×4″ in its un-deployed form and approximately 26 lbs. Some electronic balloting systems may also require stands to hold them in an upright position during voting.
Paper balloting systems additionally may comprise a separate ballot marking terminal, for example, to assist disabled voters in marking their paper ballots. An example of such a terminal is the ES&S AutoMARK voter assist terminal, which is 48 lbs and approximately 1.5′×2′×1′, although the dimensions of these and other balloting units may change between storage and deployment.
Typically in the paper balloting system, each precinct will also provide one or more special voting terminals for handicapped persons. For example, Castro & Harris, Inc. distributes the AutoMARK™ voter assist terminal, a ballot-marking system designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are blind, vision-impaired, or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot with a typical paper ballot system. The AutoMARK terminal is sized at approximately 2′×1′×1.5′, although the dimensions of this and other balloting units may change between storage and deployment, and weighs 48 lbs.
Voting occurs in a multitude of precincts, the number and locations of which are chosen to accommodate all eligible voters in a given geographic area. Therefore, the population of eligible voters in a given area, along with the types of voting technology available to that precinct, will determine how many and which types of voting equipment (including ballot counting devices, ballot boxes, ballot marking systems and accessories) will be needed for a given polling location. In urban areas, a single polling facility may be required to accommodate hundreds of voters or more, and therefore a considerable amount of voting equipment must be moved to that polling place. In addition, such as in less populated areas, a single polling place could be chosen to accommodate multiple voting precincts. In some cases, neighboring precincts served by a single polling place may utilize different ballot styles such that multiple types of voting equipment is required to accurately mark, count, and store the disparate ballots. The type, quantity, variety, and overall weight of the voting equipment needed to outfit a single polling place thus fluctuates widely between polling centers based on population density and other factors, and changes as voting technology evolves.
Moreover, in the case of every precinct, the voting equipment is moved from a secure storage location to the polling place, arranged in the polling place during the voting period, and then moved back to the storage facility or to a processing center after voting is complete. Often, facilities such as schools and office buildings are chosen as polling places due to their typically central location, handicap access, availability of parking, etc. To prevent extreme disruption to the operation of such facilities, it is most often required that voting equipment is quickly transported in and out of the polling place immediately before and after the appointed time for voting. Poll workers of varying ages and physical abilities often assist in the process of setting up and disassembling the equipment for a given precinct.
It is convenient for each precinct to transport multiple pieces of voting equipment on a utility cart so that the equipment can be wheeled into position for use. However, the utility cart that serves this purpose must be lightweight, extremely strong and durable, and extremely protective of its contents. For example, some jurisdictions may want to store and transport five or ten direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting systems on a single cart, but these are heavy and very fragile electronic systems. Voting equipment is at its most vulnerable during transportation and storage. Thus, all the loaded equipment must be fully restrained against lateral and vertical motion, and yet all equipment must preferably be given full access to their control panels, doors, etc. Moreover, any transport cart design should keep its weight to a minimum with a framework that is as light weight as possible. What is needed is a multi-compartmentalized cart with robust mechanical restraints to protect against shifting of the equipment and yet full frontal and side access to both pieces of equipment to allow access to the consoles.
Traditionally, generic utility carts have been purchased to perform the above-mentioned tasks, and these normally comprise a simple platform mounted on wheels or casters to provide mobility. These carts may be provided with upwardly protruding side-rails to constrain the equipment and yet provide proper access. Typical prior art carts used for this purpose are either not able to hold more than a small handful of individual pieces of voting equipment, or, where heavy-duty carts are enlisted, they are not adaptable to the unique shapes and sizes of various pieces of voting equipment and therefore do not properly restrain different types of voting equipment in a secure fashion.
It would be greatly advantageous to provide a utility cart specifically adapted for voting machines that incorporates multiple reconfigurable shelves for the voting equipment, robust mechanical restraints to protect against shifting of the equipment, and yet provides full frontal and side access to each piece of equipment to allow easy off- and on-loading. In addition, from a commercial standpoint, it is also necessary that the cart be as light in weight and inexpensive as possible. The weight of the cart is important because the lighter the weight, the higher degree of mobility. In order to keep the weight to a minimum, it is desirable that the framework be as light weight as possible without sacrificing stability and security.
Moreover, it would be advantageous to have a cart that is adaptable to various uses in fields other than the transportation and storage of voting equipment, such as in the medical field, where hospital administration necessitates the storage and transport of equipment of various and changing sizes and shapes which must be readily available upon arrival.